NATO Ambassador addresses UN Security Council on Afghanistan

On 27 June 2012, Ambassador Stephen Evans, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations, briefed the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.

During his briefing, he took stock of progress made in the transition of security reponsibility to the Afghans and the ever growing capacity of the Afghan security forces. He welcomed the significant reduction in the number of security incidents since January, while reaffirming ISAF’s continued efforts to prevent and minimize the risk of civilian casualties.

Looking back at the NATO Chicago Summit decisions from 20-21 May, Ambassador Evans pointed out NATO Allies and partners’ commitment to completing transition and concluding the ISAF mission by end-2014; to establishing a new mission post-2014 to pursue support to Afghan national security force and contributing to their long-term financial sustainement.

He further underlined the importance of a continued commitment by the Afghan authorities to ‘face up the challenges of good governance and to promote human rights”, and the need for a broader regional and international effort to stabilise Afghanistan: “NATO recognises that its contribution to the stability of Afghanistan is just part of a much wider effort by the Afghan themselves, and by the International Community to tackle the broad spectrum of security, governance and development challenges faced by Afghanistan”.

This 6793rd meeting of the United Nations Security Council aimed at reviewing the UN Secretary General’s report on Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security.